Toy field goal kicker

ABSTRACT

A toy field goal kicker includes a frame comprising a figure having the shape and appearance of a football player, a leg pivotally mounted on the frame at a point corresponding to the figure&#39;&#39;s knee and having a foot pivotally mounted on the distal end of the leg by means of a thumb screw assembly. A pivot joint mounting the leg on the figure includes a torsion spring for driving the leg after it has been moved to an initial kicking posture against the force of the spring. A detent mechanism, releasable by means of a string, is provided to hold the leg in an initial kicking posture until kicking is desired. A toy football, tee and uprights are provided to complete the toy.

United States Patent [191 Pelfrey [451 Oct. 14, 1975 1 TOY FIELD GOAL KICKER 21 Appl. No.: 458,540

Related U.S. Application-Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 295,176, Oct. 5, 1972,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 46/128; 273/94 R; 273/101 [51] Int. Cl. A63H 13/02 [58] Field of Search 46/128, 161, 32; 273/85 E, 273/85 F, 94 R, 94 E, 94 F, 101, 87.2, 57,4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,145,955 7/1915 Wittstein 273/94 R 3,477,720 1 H1969 Saba 273/79 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 576,864 2/1924 France 273/94 E Primary ExaminrHugh R. Chamblee Assistant Examiner-J. Q. Lever, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Nayl0r, Neal & Uilkema I ABSTRACT A toy field goal kicker includes a frame comprising a figure having the shape and appearance of a football player, a leg pivotally mounted on the frame at a point corresponding to the figures knee and having a foot pivotally mounted on the distal end of the leg by means of a thumb screw assembly. A pivot joint mounting the leg on the figure includes a torsion spring for driving the leg after it has been moved to an initial kicking posture against the force of the spring. A detent mechanism, releasable by means of a string, is provided to hold the leg in an initial kicking posture until kicking is desired.

A toy football, tee and uprights are provided to complete the toy.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Sheet 1 of 2 3,911,616

Sheet 2 of2 3,911,616

US. Patent 0a. 14, 1975 TOY FIELD GOAL KICKER RELATED APPLICATION This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 295,l76, filed Oct. 5, 1972 now abandoned.

This invention relates to the field of toy football kicking devices. Prior art devices have included a figure having a leg member pivotally mountedfihereto and driven by spring means. However such prior art field goal kickingdevices have proved both uninteresting and unrealistic in their operation since theyfdo not provide for the effect of many of the factors that must be considered by an actual field goal kicker, such as the angle of the ball on the ground, point of impact on the ball, and the angle of the foot with respect to the leg.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy field goal kicking device which is more realistic than prior art devices and requires the development of a certain amount of skill for successful kicking of a ball by the toy field goal kicker.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy field goal kicker device which provides for adjustment of the angle of the foot with respect to the leg, and the point of impact of the foot on the ball.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are provided by a field goal kicking device which includes an upright figure having the shape and appearance of a football player, and a leg pivotally attached to the figure at a point corresponding to the figures knee, and pivotable thereon against the force of the torsion spring. A detent mechanism is provided for holding the pivotable leg in an initial kicking posture against the force of the spring for alignment of the kicking device with a ball prior to kicking thereof. The detent mechanism is releasable by means of a spring which extends from the kicking device from a point in the players back and which allows activation of the kicking mechanism without further touching thereof by the operator. A foot is pivotally mounted on the distal end of the players kicking leg by means of a thumb screw assembly for adjustment of the angle of the foot with respect to the'leg.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a field goal kicking game which includes a kicking device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the kicking device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the kicking leg portion of the kicking device shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an end sectional view of the kicking leg shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the foot and distal end of the kicking leg of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the foot of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, a field goal kicking game is shown as comprising a game board 10 which is marked to simulate the appearance of a football playing field, uprights 12 provided at one end of the game board, a toy football 14 mounted on a tee 16 which may be placed anywhere on the game board 10, and a kicking device 18 for kicking the football 14 throughthe uprights 12. A score board 20 is pr'ovidedalong one side of game board 10 for recording and displaying various statistics regarding the game being played. a

g The kicking device 18 comprises a frame 22 which includes a flat base 24 and an upright figure 26 having the shape and appearance of a football player. Upright figure26 is mounted on base 24 by means of a leg 28. Upright figure 26 also includes a second upper leg portion 30 which' has a kicking leg 32 pivotally mounted thereon by means of apin 34. A foot 36 is'pivotally mounted on the distal end of: kicking leg 32 by means of a thumb screw assembly 38 which comprises a bolt 40 and'wing nut 42.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a torsion spring 44 is disposed on pivot pin 34 concentrically therewith and includes tangentially extending ends 46 and 48 dis posed in bores 50 and 52 provided in upper leg 30 and kicking leg 32, respectively.

Also provided in upper leg 30 is a detent mechanism 54 which includes a pin 56 having a collar 58 provided thereon and slidable within a bore 60 provided in upper leg 30. Bore 60 includes a shoulder 62 which serves to retain a spring seat 64 therein against the force of a spring 66 disposed concentrically on pin 56 between collar 58 and spring seat 64 to urge pin 56 against the upper end of pivotable kicking leg 32. A notch 68 is provided in the upper end of kicking leg 32 and adapted to receive the end of pin 56 when kicking leg 32 is pivoted to an initial kicking posture rearward of FIG. 26, to hold the kicking leg in that posture until the desired time for kicking of ball 14. A string 70 is attached to the other end of pin 56 and extends through a passage way 72 provided in leg 30 and exits from the rear of FIG. 26 where it may be pulled to retract pin 56 from notch 68, releasing kicking leg 32 which will then pivot under the force of torsion spring 44, as shown in phantom in FIG. 2.

Prior to release of kicking leg 32, the angle of foot 36 with respect thereto may be adjusted by suitable manipulation of thumb screw assembly 38 to adjust the point of contact of foot 36 with football 14 for imparting the desired impact to the football. Thus through practice, the player can develop his skill in adjusting the angle of foot 36 with respect to leg 32 and the position of kicking device 18 with respect to ball 14, for various placements of football 14 on game board 10 with respect to uprights 12 for best results in kicking football 14 through the uprights.

As shown in FIG. 5, the center line of the kicking toe should be in line with the lower comer mark on the ball.

The spring in the kicking leg is so tensioned or set that when the kicking leg is pulled back from the follow-through or pre-set position to pre-kick position the spring will be conditioned to swing the toe of the kicking foot through the ball at the proper point of impact to provide (1) initial lift, (2) acurate end over end ball action, and (3) the driving of the foot up and through to the apex of the pre-set position whereby natural life and follow-through are obtained to almost exactly duplicate the art of the field goal kick, an accomplishment not possible with the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy football field goal kicking device comprising a base, an upstanding figure mounted on the base having a support leg and a non-support leg, the latter comprising a lower limb portion pivotally attached at the knee about a firsthorizontal axis and a foot portion pivotally attached to the limb portion at the ankle about a second horizontal axis parallel to the first axis, releasable clamping means for selectively adjusting the included angle between the limb and foot portions to thereby control the trajectory of a football kicked by said foot portion, and spring means carried by said nonsupport leg and operable to drive said limb portion from a rearwardly directed, raised, pre-kick position to a forwardlydirected, raised, follow-through position.

2. The device of claim 1, said non-support leg further comprising a fixed, upper, hip to knee, limp portion, said pivotally attached lower, or knee to ankle, limb portion together with said foot portion together with the abbreviated radius of curvature through which the lower limb and foot portions swing together with the pivotal adjustability between the foot and the lower limb portions enabling the lofting of the ball in a relatively steep, predetermindedly controlled trajectory.

3. The device of claim 2, including a toy football and a support therefor, the latter being adapted to support the ball so that its lower end is below the lowest point of the arc of swing of the lower limb and foot portions and being adapted to be selectively positionally adjus'ted to effect control of the direction and trajectory of flight of the football. 

1. A toy football field goal kicking device comprising a base, an upstanding figure mounted on the base having a support leg and a non-support leg, the latter comprising a lower limb portion pivotally attached at the knee about a first horizontal axis and a foot portion pivotally attached to the limb portion at the ankle about a second horizontal axis parallel to the first axis, releasable clamping means for selectively aDjusting the included angle between the limb and foot portions to thereby control the trajectory of a football kicked by said foot portion, and spring means carried by said non-support leg and operable to drive said limb portion from a rearwardly directed, raised, pre-kick position to a forwardly directed, raised, follow-through position.
 2. The device of claim 1, said non-support leg further comprising a fixed, upper, hip to knee, limp portion, said pivotally attached lower, or knee to ankle, limb portion together with said foot portion together with the abbreviated radius of curvature through which the lower limb and foot portions swing together with the pivotal adjustability between the foot and the lower limb portions enabling the lofting of the ball in a relatively steep, predetermindedly controlled trajectory.
 3. The device of claim 2, including a toy football and a support therefor, the latter being adapted to support the ball so that its lower end is below the lowest point of the arc of swing of the lower limb and foot portions and being adapted to be selectively positionally adjusted to effect control of the direction and trajectory of flight of the football. 